The technology used by anglers to catch fish has become increasingly complex in nature. A broad range of products have hit the market which are designed to aid the fisherman in catching fish more quickly than is possible with the traditional hook-and-worm approach. In particular, sonar-based fish finding devices have become popular as a reliable and informational method of locating schools of fish, detecting water depth, and sensing underwater obstructions.
One problem associated with common sonar based fish finding system is that they only scan a small portion of a surrounding area from a given configuration. When the sonar is mounted to the boat, the user must jockey the entire boat back and forth in order to map an entire underwater area. This wastes both time and fuel and limits the functionality of the sonar to a very particular area of usage. Such arrangements also prevent on-shore users from utilizing the technology.
Various attempts have been made to provide sonar based fish finding systems which provide broader and more efficient scanning capabilities. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,399, issued in the name of Hickman, describes a transducer mounting system. The Hickman device is a bracket which allows a sonar-based fishing system to be mounted to a boat in a rotatable manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,661,742, issued in the name of Hansen, describes a trolling motor with a sonar transducer. The Hansen apparatus provides a trolling motor sonar attachment which allows for the repositioning of the boat and sonar in a more efficient manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,791,902, issued in the name of Steiner et al., describes a portable fish finder. The Steiner apparatus provides a sonar device which is attached to a control module by means of a deployable cable to allow a user to manipulate the sonar portion while underwater.
While these apparatuses fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such apparatuses still require great expenditures of time, effort, or fuel in order to operate at maximum potential. Also, many such apparatuses require time and effort in order to retrofit to an existing boat or the like, and as such are also not readily usable in a variety of situations. Furthermore, many such apparatuses do not provide additional facilities and data which may be useful in the determination of likely fish locations, such as water temperature. Accordingly, there exists a need for a sonar-based fish finding system without the disadvantages as described above. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.